German cities are granted the right to ban diesel cars

The municipal councils in Germany has been granted the legal right to ban diesel vehicles from their centres, as a result of a new government, the country’s Federal Administrative Court.

Stuttgart and Dusseldorf were authorized by the country of the high court of justice in order to avoid that older, higher-polluting models of driving licence in certain areas, opening the door for other cities to take action to reduce emissions.

Such as the UK, Germany is facing a growing urban nitrogen oxide pollution problem that has been linked to the dominance of diesel cars on its roads. Last year, about 70 of the cities exceed EU limits for emissions of NOx.

The German Government is opposed to the prohibition of vehicles from urban centres, because of the impact that could have on economic productivity and low income drivers, who are more likely to use older vehicles.

Germany’s tough stance against the diesel comes on the heels of the Dieselgate scandal, which saw the light of day in 2015, when the Volkswagen was found to be using the emissions test cheat software. It was one of the most outspoken countries on the theme.

Several UK councils have also pushed for a more heavy approach to emissions regulation. Oxford has proposed a combustion chamber of the engine to ban from the city centre by 2020, while London (pictured above) has recently introduced a T-Charge for the most toxic of the vehicles.

This anti-diesel attitude has caused the sales of oil-burners in the fall, a decrease of 25% in the UNITED kingdom in the month of January compared to the same month last year.

The producers have started to collect the diesel models from their line-up as the demand is reduced, with the Porsche to remove its last two current diesel car from sale at the beginning of this year.

Even if environmental activists have celebrated this change, the new Society of motor Manufacturers and Traders data show that the CO2 figures are now on how people switch from diesel to petrol cars.

The average new car last year issued 121 g/km of CO2, 120.1 g/km in 2016, which means the impact on the average car exhaust pipe is on global warming has grown for the first time in two decades.